Display carton



Jun 2 1 2 G. v. SKOWRONSKI 3,040,956

DISPLAY CARTON Filed Jan. 23, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4| 4| 1 I l2 '4 Hellc l'c Ba 32, live uh 2| wk A TTORNEYS June 26, 1962 G. v. SKOWRONSKIDISPLAY CARTON 2 Sheets-$heet 2 Filed Jan. '23, 1961 INVENTOR. GEO/26E VSKOh/RO/VSK/ By f ATTORA/[YS United States Patent 3,040,956 DISPLAYCARTON George V. Skowronski, Neenah, Wis., assignor to American CanCompany, Jersey City, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Jan. 23,1961, Ser. No. 84,356 12 Claims. (Cl. 229-32 This invention relates to areadily assembled display carton which may be made from a single blank.More specifically, the invention may with particular advantage be usedas a carton for the display packaging of food products.

In the baking industry it is important for sales promotion to display aproduct, such as a cake, so that the customer may make a selection notonly on the basis of the kind of cake, but also on the basis of itsappearance. Also, it is important that the product be packaged tomaintain freshness. Therefore, it is desirable to employ a cartonprovided with a display window; that may be overwrapped and sealed tomaintainfreshness; and that is attractive to the eye. Since the use of adisplay carton is an added expense, the amount of board employed in thecarton should be kept to a minimum in order to keep the cost of thecarton down. Further the blank should be cut so that it can be assembledreadily into a carton without the use of complicated equipment to formthe carton. since in many bakeries the volume of business is notsufficient to provide for the cost of setting up equipment.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a display cartonwith a maximum amount of window from a given amount of board and yetwhich maintains its shape.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a display cartonthat can be readily assembled by hand.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a displaycarton from a single blank utilizing a minimum amount of board.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a sealed, commoditycontaining display package that is attractive to the eye, yeteconomical.

Further details, advantages and objects of the invention will beapparent from the following specification and appended drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of an integral blank suitably cut and scored toform a carton having a display window opening,

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the set up carton, and

FIGURE 2A is a partial sectional view of the set up carton, taken alongline 2A2A of FIGURE 2, showing the corner construction, and

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the carton containing a cake andoverwrapped with a transparent sheet material.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the carton is made of a single foldable blank offlexible material such as paperboard. The blank is divided by scorelines 10, 11a11c, 12, 13a-13c, 14 and cut lines -22 into hingedlyconnected panels and webs, including bottom panel inner side panels 31,outer side panels 32, 33 webs 34, 35 and top panels 36. Panels 34 and 31together comprise a central panel.

Male locking tabs project from the lateral edges of side panels 33 alongscore lines 13c and are cut from webs 34. Female locking slits 41 arecut in side panels 32 so as to engage the male locking tabs 40 in lockedrelationship when the carton is set up as is hereinafter described.

The blank is shipped to the user who sets up the carton in his plant. Insetting up the carton, outer side panels 32, hingedly connected alongscore lines 13b to top panels 36, are pushed downward and inward withrespect to their initial position in the blank. Inner side panels 31,hingedly connected to outer side panels 32 along score line 12, arepushed downward and outward causing bottom panel 30, defined by scorelines 11a, 13a and cut lines 21, to drop down to form the bottom of thecarton. Side panels 31 and 32 lie essentially adjacent to each other andperpendicular to the bottom panel. Pressure is applied inwardly alongscore lines 14 causing webs 34, -35 to infold along hinged score linesand 110, respectively, to lie in superposed relationship and pulling theouter edges of outer side panels 33 in towards score lines 11a whichdefine the outer edge of bottom panel 30. Superposed webs 34, 35 areshown adjacent to and in between upstanding inner side panels 31 andouter side panels 33. Cross-sectional view 2A shows the corner structureof the set up carton. Alternatively, the superposed webs may lieadjacent to and in between upstanding inner side panels 31 and outerside panels 32. At this point male locking tabs 40 which project fromthe lateral edges of outer side panels 33 are folded inward to overliefemale locking slits 41. The male locking tabs 46 are then pressedinwardly into engagement with female locking slits 41 so as to obtain alocked relationship. In the set up carton the window opening defined bycut lines 2t]22 and score lines 10 and 12 is substantially equal in areato the combined area of the inner side panels and bottom panel.

The set up carton is now ready to receive a cake which is then inserted.A suitable transparent heat-scalable overwrap is then applied tocompletely enclose the package and is sealed to provide a food packageas shown in FIGURE 3. If preferred, the carton of FIGURE 2 may have atransparent sheet material adhered thereto so that the finished cartonhas an outside window rather than an overwrap. Since anoutside windowdoes not seal the package so as to maintain the freshness of a foodcommodity, an overwrap is preferred for display cartons in which food isthe commodity to be packaged.

The verticalposition of the bottom panel30 in the finished carton isdetermined by the location of score lines 10 and 12 in the outer sidepanels. If the score lines are equidistant between the upper and loweredges of the outer side panels 32, 33 then the bottom panel 30 and thelower edges of the outer side panels will all lie in a common horizontalplane as shown in the drawings.

The use of webs 34, 35 provides added strength to the set up carton aswell as facilitating the setting up of the carton by bringing thelateral edges 11c, 13c of adjacent side panels 32, 33 together prior tothe locking of tabs 40 in slits 41. The webs may be omitted to saveboard and reduce the cost of the carton with the inherent result ofweakening the finished carton since the strength of the cornerconstruction would then rest solely on the locking means.

The set up carton has additional strength at the areas where the innerside panels 31 overlie outer side panels 32, 33 giving double thicknessside walls. Further the eight sided bottom panel hingedly connected tothe inner side panels prevents deformation of the carton by twisting orbending.

The present invention provides a carton construction which requires aminimum amount of paperboard stock. Although the illustrative embodimentis particularly advantageous for cake packaging, the carton is alsosuitable for packaging and displaying pies and other food products. Theset up carton with a transparent sheet material applied provides anattractive display carton suitable for displaying a variety ofnon-perishable commodities such as Christmas decorations. The cartonscan be glued,

stapled or set up by employing other conventional locking means. Lockingmeans for hand set up are preferred, since gluing involves a number ofproblems such as special equipment, surface suitable for obtainingadhesion, etc. It is to be understood that the size and shape of thecarton and the material from which it is formed may be varied innumerous ways by those skilled in the art without departing from thespirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A display carton formed of a single blank suitably cut and scoredcomprising two pairs of opposed outer side panels being cut away attheir upper central portions; polygonal top panels hingedly connected tothe lateral portions of adjacent upper edges of the outer side panelslocated at the corners of said carton and of size to close only aportion of the top of the carton; two pair of opposed inner side panelshingedly connected to said outer side panels at score lines which formthe upper edges of said inner side panels and are intermediate the topand bottom edges of said outer side panels; a bottom panel ofapproximately octagonal shape connected at alternate side edges to thebottom edges of said inner side panels; and means at adjacent lateraledges of said outer side panels for maintaining the carton in permanentset up form to provide a continuous window opening comprising the cutaway portions of said outer side panels and the unclosed portion of thetop of the carton.

2. The carton of claim 1 wherein the said means comprises male lockingtabs extending from the lateral edges of one pair of opposed outer sidepanels and female locking slits located in locking relationshiptherewith in the other pair of opposed outer side panels.

3. The carton of claim 2 including webs hingedly connected to adjacentlateral edges of the outer side panels having diagonal score linesrunning from the upper corners of said carton for infolding said webs,whereby the webs provide support to the corners of the carton when inlocked relationship.

4. The carton of claim 1 wherein the means includes webs which areconnected to adjacent lateral edges of the outer side panels and havingdiagonal score lines running from the upper corners of said carton forinfolding the webs to maintain the lateral edges of two adjoining outerside panels in adjacent parallel relationship.

5. A display carton formed of a single blank suitably cut and scoredcomprising two pairs of opposed outer side panels being cut away attheir upper central portions; triangular top panels hingedly connectedalong two sides to the lateral portions of adjacent upper edges of theouter side panels and of size to close only a portion of the top of thecarton; two pair of opposed inner side panels hingedly connected to saidouter side panels at score lines which form the upper edges of saidinner side panels and are equidistant from the top and bottom edges ofsaid outer side panels; said inner side panels being formed from the cutaway portions of said outer side panels so that the shapes of the innerside panels conform to the portions cut away from said outer sidepanels; a bottom of approximately octagonal shape con- L3, nected atalternate side edges to the bottom edge of said inner side panels; andmeans at adjacent lateral edges of said outer side panels formaintaining the carton in permanent set up form.

6. The carton of claim 5 wherein the said means comprises male lockingtabs extending from the lateral edges of one pair of opposed outer sidepanels and female locking slits located in locking relationshiptherewith in the other pair of opposed outer side panels.

7. The carton of claim 6 including webs hingedly con nected to adjacentlateral edges of outer side panels having diagonal score lines runningfrom the upper corners of said carton for infolding said webs, whereasthe webs provide support to the corners of the carton when in lockedrelationship.

8. The carton of claim 5 wherein the means includes webs which areconnected to adjacent lateral edges of the outer side panels and havingdiagonal score lines running from the upper corners of said carton forinfolding the webs to maintain the lateral edges of two adjoining outerside panels in adjacent parallel relationship.

9. A unitary carton blank adapted to be formed into a display cartonhaving top and side window openings, said blank being suitably cut andscored to form a central panel defined by a pair of longitudinalparallel spaced score lines and a pair of transverse parallel spacedscore lines, two pairs of opposed side panels hingedly attached to saidcentral panel along said longitudinal and transverse score lines;closure means hingedly attached at the lateral edges of said sidepanels, said central panel being divided by angular cut lines near thecorners thereof into a bottom panel and top panels located at thecorners of said central panel, said side panels bearing internal scorelines, the ends of said score lines being connected by cut lines withthe adjacent ends of said angular cut lines whereby said side panels aredivided into inner side panels lying adjacent the longitudinal edges ofsaid bottom panel and outer side panels lying outside said connectingcut lines and the folding score line joining them.

10. The blank of claim 9 wherein said closure means comprises malelooking tabs hingedly connected to the lateral edges of said opposedside panels for insertion in locking relationship in female lockingslits located in the other pair of opposed side panels.

11. The blank of claim 10 including webs hingedly connected to thelateral edges of said side panels having a diagonal score line runningfrom the corners of said central panel.

12. The blank of claim 9 wherein said means include webs hingedlyconnected to the lateral edges of said side panels having diagonal scorelines running from the corners of said central panel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,933,741 Liebetruth Nov. 7, 1933 1,996,965 Keppler Apr. 9, 1935 VanDyke Sept. 11, 1956

